Tea Time
by Invader Vega
Summary: Rebecca and Ryou have been set up on a date by Anzu. Rebecca makes the best of it. Bounceshipping.


_A/N: Took a break from the thiefshipping to bring you something completely different, which has been floating around my head for a few days. I love Rebecca - she's fierce._

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Yugi, in all his well-meaning and desire for his friends to all be friends with each other, had introduced them, and Anzu, in her deep, deep, very deep jealousy of the love that she and Yugi so obviously shared, had set them up on a date. Bitch. She was _clearly _just trying to delay the inevitable – her eventual marriage to Yugi, and then her going on cross-country lecture tours while he stayed home and played house husband to their three children (Yugi Jr., Rebecca Jr., and Aurora).

Still though, thought Rebecca, Ryou was _very _cute – even if he was a few years older (like that mattered…she was in college, for cripes' sake). And it was nice to talk to someone else who knew English.

Still… it was undeniably very weird to be sitting in this boy's apartment, alone, after they had only met a few days before and had exchanged even fewer lines of conversation.

"Um…would you like some tea?"

"That would be lovely," Rebecca smiled, trying to keep the situation from being any more awkward than it already was. Ryou got off the couch a little too eagerly, and walked quickly to the apartment kitchen to fumble around in his cabinets. She watched him from her place on the loveseat.

"Bugger…where's the kettle…" She winced as she heard a metallic crash. "I can never remember where I put it…"

"I thought British people drank tea every day."

"A lot of them do," Ryou explained across the counter, "but I've sort of fallen out of the habit since coming to Japan. I'm not especially fond of green tea, and you can't really get good black teas here." He filled the kettle with water, and put it on the stove. "And the tea-drinking tradition here isn't quite the same as in England. Most of the time, I only drink it when I have company, which isn't too often." She could tell he was trying to keep his solitary existence light, but the implications under the surface still disturbed Rebecca, who did not often confront the reality of things like loneliness and fear that tomorrow might bring nothing. She knew about how Ryou lived alone before coming, but thinking about it made it even more sad. No wonder that Ancient Egyptian guy that Yugi told her about had been able to possess him. "Um, I have some Earl Grey that's decent, a bunch of bags of green tea, and this hibiscus tea." His voice startled her out of her introspection, and it took her a minute to respond.

"Earl Grey would be fine," Rebecca replied. "That surprises me, that you don't like green tea."

"Why is that?" The kettle whistled urgently, and Ryou rushed to take it off the stove.

"You just seem like the kind of person who would like green tea," she continued lightly. He brought two plain white teacups over to the coffee table and two teabags, and set them on the coffee table, turning back to get the kettle. She noticed that he had taken the Earl Grey as well.

"Would you like sugar or cream?"

"Just sugar, please."

A _tea party._ Good God, if she wasn't so certain that her heart would belong to Yugi forever and ever, she might just fall in love with Ryou at that very moment. It was like every single fantasy she had ever had as a young girl – all he needed to do was to own a white horse, wear a suit of armor, and to harbor a deep, secret love for NSYNC.

He came back with the kettle and filled her cup with hot water first. She watched as the bag leeched out color and flavor into the water.

"My grandmother had superstitions about tea. She was a big tea drinker," she said casually.

"Oh really? What did she say?" he asked politely, pouring water into his own cup. And yeah, it was polite, but for some reason Rebecca didn't feel like he was patronizing her like so many other people did. He sounded genuinely interested in her stupid grandmother story. How very unusual.

"Well…" she began, "she told me once that when you drink a lot of tea, you understand the character of each one, and you have different relationships with them. She said that green teas are like family members, because they calm you down and warm you up and make you feel like the world is a little easier to take on. Herbal teas, like teas that aren't only tea leaves, they're like friends." She paused to remove her teabag and to add a sugarcube. "Most of them tend to be pretty strong and complex, like someone you don't know all that well. But if you drink that tea a lot, then you pick out all the little things that make that particular tea unique, and it's like getting to know a friend." That made Ryou smile – the first real smile he'd had all afternoon. She had a feeling the others were pretty forced.

"What about black tea?" he joked, taking a sip of his tea.

"Black teas are like lovers." She noticed out of the top of her cup that Ryou's face had suddenly gone pink. "They're complex and spicy and heavy and – they invigorate you. They make you feel alive, you know? Just like falling in love." Rebecca grinned. To be honest, Ryou's sudden embarrassment? Yeah – it made him cuter. Maybe she could find some room in her heart next to the Yugi Shrine to set up a spot for the demure little British boy.

"You ever been in love, Ryou?" she teased.

"I don't think so," he said quietly, as if he was afraid his mummy might overhear. It was so _adorable_. She almost wanted to lean forward and muss up his hair like a little boy.

"Well, don't worry. Keep drinking that tea, and it'll happen." She sipped her tea, and watched him.

"How do you figure?"

"Well, my grandma also said that if you drink a certain kind of tea, then it'll bring you good luck in your relationships. Depending on which tea you drink."

"So then, since we're drinking black tea…" he started, then went pink again. It was a good color on him, Rebecca observed. Embarrassment of some sort was almost his natural state.

"We'll be lucky in love." She smiled at him. He met her eyes, and giggled a little bit.

_I have a feeling neither of us are going to need it, though._


End file.
